Unlocking External Processing: A Beginner’s Guide to Waves SuperRack Performer with the Behringer Wing

Welcome, fellow church tech artists and audio engineers! In our mission to create immersive and impactful worship experiences, the tools we use are paramount. The Behringer Wing is an incredibly powerful and flexible console, but what if you could expand its processing capabilities to include the industry-standard suite of Waves plugins? That’s exactly where Waves SuperRack Performer comes in.

This guide is designed to walk you through the entire process, from the initial physical connection to routing your first audio signal through a custom plugin chain. We’ll demystify the setup and get you on your way to leveraging external processing like a pro.

The Concept: How It All Works

At its core, the process is a digital effects loop. We’re going to send an audio signal out of the Behringer Wing, into a computer running SuperRack Performer, process it with Waves plugins, and then send it back to the Wing to be mixed into our final output. This allows you to use CPU-intensive plugins like advanced compressors, multi-band exciters, or real-time pitch correction without taxing the console’s internal processor.

Step 1: The Foundation – Physical Connection

Before we touch any software, we need to establish a solid physical connection between your console and your computer.

• What You’ll Need:

  • Your Behringer Wing console.
  • A computer (Mac or PC). In this tutorial, we’re using a Mac Mini.
  • A USB-A to USB-B cable (often called a “printer cable”) or a USB-A to USB-C cable, depending on your computer’s ports.

• Connection Instructions:

  1. Locate the USB audio interface port on the back of your Behringer Wing. It’s a square-shaped USB-B port.
  2. Connect the USB-B end of your cable firmly into this port.
  3. Connect the other end (USB-A or USB-C) to an available USB port on your computer.

That’s it for the physical setup. This single USB cable will handle sending and receiving multiple channels of audio between the two devices.

Step 2: Software Acquisition and Installation

With the hardware connected, it’s time to get the software installed and licensed. The entire Waves ecosystem is managed through a central application.

1. Purchase SuperRack Performer: Navigate to Waves.com. You can search for “SuperRack Performer” or find it under Solutions > House of Worship. This is a one-time software purchase that provides the “host” application for your plugins. Add it to your cart and complete the purchase using your Waves account.
2. Download and Install Waves Central: If you don’t already have it, you’ll need to download the Waves Central application from their website. This is the mandatory hub for installing products, managing licenses, and updating your plugins.
3. Install SuperRack Performer: Open Waves Central and log in.
   • Click on the “Install Products” tab.
   • You will see a list of all Waves products you own. Find SuperRack Performer in the list, check the box next to it, and click the “Install” button.
4. Activate Your License: After installation, go to the “Licenses” tab in Waves Central. Find your SuperRack Performer license and activate it to your computer or a USB flash drive.
5. Get Your Plugins: Inside Waves Central, you can also install any plugins you’ve purchased individually or that are part of a subscription plan like Waves Ultimate. If you have no plugins, you won’t be able to do any processing.

Step 3: A Guided Tour of the SuperRack Performer Interface

Once installed and activated, open SuperRack Performer. It may seem intimidating at first, but let’s break down the key areas.

• The Main Window: This is dominated by your “Racks.” You have 64 available racks, which you can think of as 64 individual channels for processing. The Overview tabs (1 & 2) show you banks of 16-32 racks at a glance, while the Rack view lets you zoom in on a single rack to adjust plugin parameters.
• Show & Snapshots: Similar to your Wing’s scene management, you can save and recall Snapshots that contain specific plugin settings. This is perfect for changing a vocalist’s reverb and delay settings between a slow ballad and an upbeat song. The entire configuration is saved as a Session.
• Setup: This is the most important tab for initial configuration. We’ll dive deep into this in the next step.
• The Top Bar (System Info):
  • MIDI: Shows if MIDI data is being received.
  • BPM: Displays the current Beats Per Minute, which is crucial for syncing time-based effects like delays. You can tap a tempo here.
  • Sample Rate: This must match the sample rate of your Behringer Wing (typically 48kHz).
  • Buffer Size: This is a critical setting that balances performance and latency.
    • Low Buffer (e.g., 64, 128): Results in very low latency (the delay between input and output), which is ideal for live sound. However, it requires a lot of computer CPU power.
    • High Buffer (e.g., 256, 512): Eases the load on your computer’s CPU but introduces more noticeable latency, which can be problematic for live vocals and monitoring.
  • CPU Meter: Shows how much processing power your computer is currently using. If this meter is hitting red, you need to increase your buffer size or use fewer plugins. I run a 64 buffer on an M1 Mac Mini, which results in around 9ms of latency, an acceptable amount for most live scenarios.

Step 4: The Crucial Link – Configuring Your Setup

Let’s tell SuperRack how to talk to the Wing.

1. In SuperRack Performer, click the Setup tab in the top left.
2. Under the Audio section, find the Device dropdown menu. You should see “Wing” listed as an option. Select it. (You may also see Dante or other devices if you have them; for this guide, we are focusing on the direct USB connection).
3. Ensure the Sample Rate matches your console. You can verify this on the Wing under Setup > Audio.
4. Select your desired Buffer Size. A good starting point is 256. If you don’t notice any delay and your CPU meter is low, you can try lowering it to 128 or 64 for better performance.

That’s all you need to do in the Setup tab to establish the audio connection!

Step 5: Signal Flow Mastery – Routing on the Behringer Wing

Now, we need to tell the Wing where to send audio from and where to receive it back. For this example, let’s assume we want to process the music on Channel 1 and return it to Channel 2.

Part 1: Sending Audio TO the Computer

1. On your Behringer Wing, press the ROUTING button.
2. Select the OUTPUTS tab at the top.
3. On the left, select USB Audio. This shows you the 48 available USB output channels.
4. Select the first output, USB 01. Tap the source box to patch a source to it.
5. In the patch bay, select your music channel source (e.g., CH 01).
6. You have now successfully routed your music channel out of the console via USB Output 1.

Part 2: Receiving Audio FROM the Computer

1. Select an empty channel strip on your Wing to be the “return” channel. We’ll use Channel 2.
2. Go to the HOME screen for Channel 2.
3. In the top-left corner, tap the source assignment box (it might say something like “AES50 A 2”).
4. In the source selection menu, change the source to USB Audio and select input USB 01.
5. Rename this channel to something intuitive, like “Music Processed” or “Music WAVES,” so you don’t get confused during your mix.

Now, Channel 1 is the original, unprocessed source. Channel 2 is ready to receive the processed signal back from the computer.

Step 6: Putting It All Together in SuperRack Performer

The final step is to create the processing chain inside SuperRack.

1. In the SuperRack Overview window, look at the first rack, labeled “Rack 1.”
2. Set the Input: Click the Input dropdown and select Mono > IN1. You should immediately see the audio meter on that rack light up with the signal from your music channel. “IN1” corresponds to the USB Output 1 we just configured on the Wing.
3. Set the Output: The output will likely default to Wing 1. This is correct. It means SuperRack will send the processed signal back on USB channel 1, which our “Music Processed” channel on the Wing is listening to.
4. Add Plugins: Click the large + sign in the middle of the rack. A window will pop up with all your available Waves plugins. You can search for what you need. Let’s add two:
   • Search for “Tune” and select Waves Tune Real-Time for pitch correction.
   • Click the + below that plugin and search for “C4” to add the C4 Multiband Compressor.
5. Adjust Plugins: To see a plugin’s detailed controls, click on it. This will take you to the Rack view. Here you can adjust parameters, load factory presets, or save your own. You can toggle between the plugins in your chain by clicking their names at the top.
6. Label Your Rack: Go back to the Overview window. Double-click the name “Rack 1” and rename it to “Music” for better organization.

You are now successfully sending audio from the Wing, processing it in real-time on your computer with Waves plugins, and returning it to a separate channel on your console for mixing. Fading up your “Music Processed” channel will bring the effected sound into your mix.

Hopefully, this guide has empowered you to take the first steps into the exciting world of external processing with your Behringer Wing. Happy mixing